Hallelujah [Courtesy of My son Ken B.]

“Hallelujah”

A Very Important Word!


The word “Hallelujah”—or “Alleluia,” as it appears in the King James Version (“KJV”)—is a very important and revealing word in the Bible. It occurs four times in the KJV—all four times in chapter 19 of the Book of Revelation:

Rev 19:1:
And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

Rev 19:3:
And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.

Rev 19:4:
And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia.

Rev 19:6:
And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

One of the keys to unlocking the important meaning in this word is to recognize that “Hallelujah” is derived from two Hebrew words:

הָלַל [Strong's number (H) 1984—pronounced hä•lal'], a Hebrew verb which occurs 165 times in the Hebrew text underlying the KJV. Of those occurrences, it is translated “praise” 114 times. (http://tinyurl.com/37b2358) Here is an example of how this Hebrew word is used:

1 Chron 16:25 (KJV):
“For great is the LORD [Strong's # 3068], and greatly to be praised [Strong's # 1984]: he also is to be feared above all gods.”

יָהּ [Strong's number (H) 3050—written “Yah” and pronounced yä], a “Hebrew proper noun [i.e., it is a proper name] with reference to deity,” which occurs 49 times in the Hebrew text underlying the KJV. Of those occurrences, it is represented as “(the) LORD” 48 times and once as “Yah” in Psa 68:4 (http://tinyurl.com/27cveod). “Yah” is an abbreviated, shortened, contracted form of the “Hebrew proper noun with reference to deity,” “Yahweh” [Strong's number (H) 3068—and (H) 3069, which is actually the same Hebrew proper noun with different Hebrew vowel points (http://tinyurl.com/2clv87m).]

Psa 68:4 (Holy Bible, Amended King James Version):
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name YAH, and rejoice before him.

Although these two Hebrew words are not translated or otherwise represented in English in the KJV Old Testament as “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah,”they are actually used together a number of times in the same verse (http://tinyurl.com/2czudcg). The second of those occurrences where the two Hebrew words halal and Yah occur together in the same verse reflects the meaning of the word “Alleluia” or “Hallelujah.”

Psa 104:35 (Holy Bible, Amended King James Version):
Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou Yah [Hebrew actually is “Yahweh”], O my soul. Praise ye Yah.

The form of the Hebrew verb halal used in Psa 104:35 is halalu. The last letter u shows that the verb form is second person plural—which is represented in the KJV as “ye” in this verse. (In Modern English, we have replaced this form with “you,” which means a person can no longer tell in English if we are talking about “you singular” or “you plural.”)

So the meaning of the English word “Hallelujah” is actually:

“Praise ye Yah(weh)” or

“All you people, praise Yah(weh).”

For more information, please see: www.FellowshipWithGOD.com

Ken B.
Email: kcb00799@gmail.com